The disclosure relates generally to an intelligent building system for providing occupancy information with anonymity.
Elevator cabs have finite capacity and, when full, may bypass a hall call (“load bypass”) to increase throughput and, thereby, minimize overall passenger wait time. The bypass feature, in general, is implemented by estimating elevator cab occupancy with load sensors. Unfortunately, load is not directly related to area occupancy, particularly when the elevator is transporting people in wheelchairs, or there are luggage carts, hospital gurneys, etc. This may result in a cab stopping unnecessarily or bypassing a hall call unnecessarily.
That is, bypassing a hall call is potentially annoying to waiting passengers who sent the hall call and only know that an elevator cab did not stop for them. Without additional information, the waiting passengers do not know why the cab did not stop and may assume the hall call button is broken. Further, with some elevator cabs, the bypass feature can be itself disabled so that a full car will stop, open and close its doors, and then resume its trip despite not having the capacity to receive additional passengers. Disabling the bypass feature may help relieve the annoyance and stress of the waiting passengers, but at an expense of longer travel times for current passengers.